The present invention relates to an endoscope system having a plurality of processor units, and more specifically to power control of the plurality of processor units.
Conventionally, endoscope systems with endoscope units being installed in operation rooms for various operations such as inspections, surgeries, and medical treatments, have been used in many medical facilities. In such an endoscope system, the endoscope unit is connected with a controller provided in a remote administrating room so that various data, including image data obtained through the endoscope and information of the patient, can be exchanged between the controller and the endoscope unit through a communication line. An Example of such an endoscope system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. H11-318823. When such an endoscope system is provided with a plurality of endoscope units, each endoscope unit can be installed in an operation room respectively and connected to the controller to exchange the various data within the endoscope system through a network such as a LAN. An example of such an endoscope system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2001-449.
For the endoscope systems disclosed in the above-referenced publications, an operator is required to move to each operation room to switch power on in order to activate each endoscope unit. In addition, the endoscope units are required to be switched off after the operations, which can be troublesome specifically when the endoscope units are installed in remote operation rooms.